Have you heard of the fresh start effect? It’s based on the idea that, as humans, we’re energized and more determined when we get a chance to wipe the slate clean or start anew.

This is probably why the new year always feels so exciting and full of promise. Even if you had your best year ever on eBay, you can still be exhilarated by the prospect of starting over and crushing a new set of goals.

So, with the “fresh start effect” in mind, we pulled together five tips to help you wipe the slate clean, start 2017 more excited than ever, and maybe even see your business in a whole new light. Take your pick or resolve to tackle all five:

1. Liquidate your slow-moving merchandise.

This time of year, buyers are trained to look for deeply discounted merchandise. Take advantage of that buyer mindset and do an inventory clearance sale. If you have items in stock that just won’t sell, create an attractive promotion to help move them out, or use promoted listings to get more visibility for your lethargic listing(s). They’re likely taking up physical and mental space, and could even be impeding your growth.

If you don’t have an eBay Store, you can set up a $.99 auction style listing or consider donating your items to your favorite charity. You’d support a great cause. And, if applicable, you can take the tax deduction. Always consult with a tax professional, when in doubt.

2. Brush up on your skills through the Small Business Association.

You only know what you know. Consider carving out some time in your week to take some free courses through SCORE or the SBA Learning Center. Topics include: How to Write a Business Plan, Strategic Planning, Introduction to Accounting, Market Research, Social Media Marketing, and Marketing 101: A Guide for Winning Customers. Something you learn here will change the way you approach 2017, guaranteed.

3. Consider carrying new, multi-quantity items.

If you only sell one-of-a-kind merchandise, you might be spending too much time sourcing and listing. Try taking the plunge into the wholesale world. When you buy multi-quantity items from a wholesaler, you only have to list items once. Plus, you’re investing in a much more sustainable sales model. Just ask eBay seller Dan Riley.

4. Determine where you can cut costs.

If you have an eBay Store, see if you can save money on fees by upgrading to the next level. Or, if you don’t have a Store, use the Fee Illustrator to find out if you’d be better off with an eBay Stores subscription. And, don’t forget to factor in all of the subscriber perks, like credits toward shipping supplies and promoted listings, as well as discounts on graphic design and financial services.

5. Set your sights on growth.

The best way to plan for growth is to first study the data in your Performance and Growth tabs in Seller Hub. Based on what you find there, you can determine what’s selling well, what needs to be discontinued, and how your listings stack up against the competition. From there, you can either adjust pricing, or pump up your marketing with promotions and promoted listings, to sell more. Once you uncover opportunities for growth, the sky’s the limit.

Just in case you were wondering, the fresh start effect’s got us, too. We’re looking forward to all of the ways we can make selling on eBay easier, more profitable, and maybe even more fun. #Goals.

Do you usually start the new year with a new set of goals? Let us know in the comments below. Also, feel free to share this article with your eBay peers via email and on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

Although being a member with ebay since 2001 I have recently been doing a little more selling and wondered about which items I should think about selling. Are there any suggestions as to whats hot and not expensive to list with a high percent that the item will sell?

@lifemoonstore, we'll be posting about this soon, but I'll give you a sneak peek. Shhhh. There's a new tool in eBay Seller Hub under the Growth tab. It's called "Sourcing." It's an inventory guidance tool that helps you see which categories are trending and what buyers are paying in those categories. We're really excited about this. If you're not opted into Seller Hub, here's how to activate your access: http://www.ebay.com/sellerhub. It's FREE. ~Shana

The point of the .99 auction is to attract more bidders because of the low opening price, not to sell the item at .99. It works really well if you use it correctly. Most successful people at this are experienced as to how to do it correctly because if done incorrectly, your items will sell for .99 and you'll end up using money. Do the research.

If you have an eBay Store, see if you can save money on fees by upgrading to the next level. Or, if you don’t have a Store, use the Fee Illustrator to find out if you’d be better off with an eBay Stores subscription. And, don’t forget to factor in all of the subscriber perks, like credits toward shipping supplies and promoted listings, as well as discounts on graphic design and financial services.

When did all these perks start in Australia? I certainly haven't been offered them. Not even FVF discounts for TRS

Hi @straybooksoz - I looked into this for you. Some of these perks were just rolled out with our Fall Seller Release last year. Looks like they're currently only available to users registered in the US. Though, I would imagine that will be changing soon. As for the TRS discount, you should be eligible to receive this as long as you’re listing your items on eBay.com and you meet all of the requirements. ~Shana

How about this for a "Fresh Start"? No matter new sourcing guides, 99c auctions, etc, it all boils down to a Seller being able to actually easily list an item. 2017 eBay's new "mandatory" Quick Listing Tool is a good reason to simply LEAVE eBay completely! Why? Because time to complete a "quick" listing with this tool is tripled, Seller options are severely limited in such things as catagories (which, to get to the right one or at least a selection of the right one) requires extensive, lengthy and unnecessarily cumbersome link negotiation and Sellers have no options to limite Buyers/Bidders with no PayPal account, multiple negative feedback etc. ~ just to name a quick few flaws.

A phone call with eBay CS this evening (1/5/17 at 8pm) revealed there's NO options for Sellers to revert to previous listing formats but, instead, Sellers MUST use this new, cumbersome, almost inoperable, time consuming & inadequate "quick listing" format. (Took me almost 3hrs to list 2 items ~ and I KNOW what I'm doing... geezz!)

As I nicely explained to eBay CS ~ without me (Sellers/in general), there's no eBay! As an elderly, disabled person selling many OOAK items in the process of downsizing, its not worth it for me to continue to use eBay if I'm FORCED to use this new eBay 2017 "Quick Listing" [sic] format. I was doing great via the previous formats ~ and now I'm told there's NO WAY to revert to anything... that I MUST use the new format.

So maybe I take my numerous years of seller experience, knowledge & talents to a "Fresh Start" somewhere else. Just saying...

(not intended as a hateful or angry post; I'm just frustrated at being told I HAVE to use something that obviously does NOT function properly and creates more stress than anyone should have in a day's time ~ when the previous seller format/template was working very well)

This is a followup to my post of 1/5 late night. eBay CS did finally call me back... 26hrs later. In all fairness to them, their callback was on a Sat & they explained they felt it was to late to call me the night before. Understandable. CS told me they could not revert my Seller listings back to my original format and once again I explained (in detailed specifics) my multiple complaints with their new "mandatory" listing tool. I nicely explained again that without me (and all Sellers in general) there is NO eBay... Sellers MAKE eBay what it is; without us selling our items, eBay is defunct. I also nicely explained my thought that while eBay may be the largest, they are NOT the ONLY "game in town" and I might consider cancelling my account with them and moving elsewhere if I was not afforded at the very least an option of how I want to list my items. I acknowledged that while I'm not a mega-seller, I am just like many others who rely on eBay to sell that which I do have from time to time.

After a lengthy conversation with this Supervising CS person, and his breaking away to 'get permission' from others, eBay did, in fact, return my listing abilities back to their original format and deleted their "Quick Listing" tool from my account.

I was informed, however, that eBay intends to make their new "Quick Listing" tool format as the primary & only tool available. I, in turn, then commented that they should make it totally functional ~ 1) cause the bulk listing tool to load ~ which it does not now, 2) afford Seller a detailed listing of categories to chose from instead of only what they suggest... without Seller's excessive, cumbersome link negotiations to access a specific category, 3) fix the description section to where it does not destroy (or completely delete) already formatted wording with such minor corrections as the possible correction of a typo, 4) afford Sellers the option to set Buyer preferences so I can automatically eliminate potential problems, etc, etc. I also informed them to possibly review their own community boards, such as this and various other Seller comments concerning how horrible, inadequate, and nonfunctional their new listing tool currently IS.

The conversation was very "business" and not hostile in any manner. I do indeed compliment the CS person for finally putting my listing tools back to what I wanted. However, I will say... this issue should not have taken my time & effort as it did and eBay would be wise to VALUE its Sellers as much, if not more, than its buyers. Bottom line, again: without Sellers (volume or small) ~ there is NO eBay! (And, no listing fees, fees for sales, etc... where they make their money) I think sometimes eBay forgets they work for US (Sellers).... or doesn't.

Just wanting to point out that sometimes it's necessary to put the right "em-fas-cis" on the right "cel-a-bile" =) Now (for me at least) ~ on to the New Year ... with hopes for success. Wishing others success too... and thanks for your time in reading; hope this helps in some way

Very lengthy post you have here! I can appreciate your frustration, since it's taken me hours to figure out a new way to list items. It took me DAYS to realize not everyone was seeing the same new format I was -- and I had no idea it was called a Quick Listing Tool! As I stated earlier, I don't know how I became the 'special recipient', but it's upsetting. I didn't ask for it, don't have a store, not interested in seller-hub, bulk-listing, high-dollar items, etc. Can't figure out why ebay would just change-up certain sellers at random, what purpose? I'll try the phone call approach tomorrow, and hope I get the old listing format back. Thanks for listening..anyone out there.

Following up to my post a few days ago.. Success! my ebay phone call brought results. The CS rep was so helpful (yes!) and fixed things, and now I have my old listing format back, old but "New revised" edition of the Advanced Listing Tool. Still not sure how the Quick listing tool landed my way a couple wks ago, but it's gone and I'm moving on and ready to start selling again! Apparently in 2016, other sellers (except me?) were switched to this new version, but I didn't get that memo. The new version is great, the old quirks seem fixed..so far so good. Thanks to the earlier poster "assorted" who helped me find some clarity and direction!

Trying so hard to connect witht the Ebay Wholesale Department I have a ready sorce to buy large quanities of high end beauty products and would like to sell to eabyers who are looking for such. I have contacted the eBay wholesale department several times with no acknowledgement. I also spoke witht he global shipping department, hoping they could connect me with the correct contact.